Texas Ten Commandments Bill Is the Latest Example of Forcing Religious Texts in Public Schools

Texas has become the latest state to pass a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. The bill, which is already being legally challenged and is unlikely to pass constitutional muster, is part of a recent trend of red states attempting to inject religious texts into the classroom.

Senate Bill 10 requires public schools to “display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.” The poster is required to only contain the text of the Ten Commandments and must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall. Further, if a school doesn’t have an acceptable poster in each classroom, the bill requires them to accept any privately donated poster. 

The bill was passed by the Texas state House on Saturday and overwhelmingly approved in the state Senate with a 28–3 vote on Wednesday. While S.B. 10 has not yet been enacted, Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbot said in a social media post earlier this month that he would sign the bill if it passed the Legislature.

Similar bills have been recently signed into law in Louisiana and Arkansas. While Louisiana’s Ten Commandments bill tried to avoid legal scrutiny by directing schools to only use private donations, not public funds, Texas’ bill makes no such distinctions. The bill states that a school “may, but is not required to, purchase posters . . . using district funds.” Louisiana’s bill was halted in federal court last November, shedding doubt on the Texas bill’s ability to survive a First Amendment challenge.

The day after the bill was passed, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several other groups announced that they were suing to stop the bill from becoming law.

“We all have the right to decide what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice. Government officials have no business intruding on these deeply personal religious matters,” reads a Thursday statement from the ACLU. “S.B. 10 will subject students to state-sponsored displays of the Ten Commandments for nearly every hour of their public education. It is religiously coercive and interferes with families’ right to direct children’s religious education.”

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